Moldovan Communists banned from elections under Communist symbols

October 24, 2012, 17:10 UTC+3Leader of the Party Vladimir Voronin said that the Communists wouldn’t give up their symbols

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CHISINAU, October 24 (Itar-Tass) — Moldova’s opposition Communist party has been banned from participating in the forthcoming elections under Communist symbols, the party’s press service reported on Wednesday.

The Moldovan Central Electoral Commission has refused to register Communist candidates for elections to local self-government bodies that will take place in some of Moldova’s populated localities this November.

A ban imposed by the ruling Alliance for European Integration on the hammer and sickle took effect early in October. Observers believe that this restriction is aimed, first and foremost, against the opposition Communist Party which has the largest faction in the Moldovan parliament and holds about a third of deputy seats. The Communists have appealed against the ban to the country’s Constitutional Court and are now waiting for its decision. However, the Court’s judges decided to consult the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (The European Commission for Democracy through Law) on this subject. The commission’s chairman Gianni Buquicchio has already told journalists that “banning the hammer and sickle was overskill.”

Vladimir Voronin, Moldova’s ex-president and the leader of the Moldovan Communist Party, said that the Communists wouldn’t give up their symbols.

“If the parliament’s decision is upheld, we are determined to get through to the European Court of Human Rights and go even farther if necessary,” Voronin said.